4:56pm: Shares posted their biggest weekly drop since the start of February after insurgent attacks on oil fields in northern Iraq led to talk of war from the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Australia. The escalation in geopolitical risk added to the pressure on the local equity market following a slump in the spot price of Australia’s biggest export, iron ore.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the All Ordinaries Index both lost 1.1 per cent over the past week to two-month lows of 5405.1 points and 5383.7 points, respectively. Losses were broad-based with the exception of energy and gold stocks, which benefited from investor risk aversion and higher oil prices.

Despite fears of another gulf war brewing, Wilson Asset Management chief investment officer Chris Stottsaid it would not alter his strategy. “Indeed, as investors ditch assets traditionally considered risky, such as mining stocks, it could present a buying opportunity,” he said.

Mining was the worst-performing sector for the week, down 2.6 per cent, as the spot price for iron ore, landed in China, lost another 2.8 per cent to its lowest value since September 2012 at $US91.50 a tonne.

Resources giant BHP Billiton lost 2.6 per cent over the five trading sesssions to $35.29 despite analysts roundly endorsing management for showing discipline in announcing more cuts to struggling projects.

Main rival Rio Tinto fell 3 per cent to $57.60, while iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group crashed 10.2 per cent to $4.06.

Smaller iron ore miners with higher production costs were hit much harder. BC Iron was the worst-performing stock in the ASX 200, down 15.7 per cent at $3.06.

Gold miners got a boost with equity strategists expecting the precious metal to surge in value if the political conflict in Iraq escalates. The spot price for gold strengthened 1.5 per cent over the week to $US1272.15 per ounce.

Energy was the week’s best-performing sector, up 1.8 per cent, led by a 2.5 per cent rise in Australia’s biggest oil producer Woodside Petroleum to $42.79. Among the other big drillers Oil Search rose 0.2 per cent to $9.80, and Santos added 0.6 per cent to $14.66. But Origin Energy fell 1.5 per cent to $14.32.

4:30pm: Shares staged a rally from their late morning lows, climbing steadily higher into the afternoon as bank shares pared their losses and regional markets enjoyed a strong bounce.

It wasn't enough to negate the steep early fall, with the ASX 200 and All Ords closing 0.4 per cent, or 24 points, lower to 5405.1 and 5383.7, respectively.

Mining stocks were the biggest drag on the market as iron ore touched 21-month lows, falling 1.3 per cent as a group. BHP led the drop, down 1.2 per cent, while Rio shed 1.9 per cent and Fortescue 6.2 per cent.

4:01pm:China’s stocks are higher, sending the benchmark index to a six-week high, after new bank lending topped estimates and industrial production growth accelerated.

The Shanghai Composite is up 0.8 percent, the highest since April 22. The index has advanced 2 per cent this week, poised for the biggest weekly gain in two months, after the central bank cut the reserve-requirement ratio for some lenders. That has fuelled speculation the government may announce measures to support the economy.

“The market has expectations about further loosening of monetary policies and that’ll attract some buying sentiment,” said Wang Zheng, chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co. “The economic data have no surprise. It’s showing the economy is stabilising.”

Other Asian markets also rallied, with Japan’s Nikkei 0.9 per cent higher after the Bank of Japan confirmed no change to monetary policy, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 0.8 per cent in afternoon trade.

Korea’s KOSPI fell 1 per cent, and Taiwan’s TAIEX 0.1 per cent.

Chinese industrial output rose 8.8 percent in May from a year earlier, in line with estimates, and retail sales gained 12.5 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website today.

Fixed-asset investment excluding rural households increased 17.2 percent in the first five months of the year, the agency said.

Local-currency loans were 870.8 billion yuan ($140 billion), the People’s Bank of China said yesterday, higher than 42 out of 43 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. M2, the broadest measure of money supply, rose 13.4 percent, compared with a median projection for 13.1 percent.

Citigroup Inc. said in a report dated yesterday that it has an overweight allocations on Chinese stocks for the “first time in years” amid signs the economy is bottoming out.

It is also understood to be booking its local revenue in Ireland, amid growing concern over profit-shifting by international companies.

The company applied for an exemption from parts of the Corporations Act in 2009, according to documents registered with ASIC.

It means that the company has never disclosed its Australian earnings – and raises questions about where the company books its Australian revenue.

Industry sources estimate that the Australian operations of Facebook are generating at least $50 million a year in revenue, mostly from advertising on the social network.

However, advertisers have told Fairfax Media that they are billed by an Ireland-based subsidiary of Facebook, whose European corporate headquarters is in Dublin.

Legal experts said the exemption was an indication the company used an intermediary or shell company to claim control over its local operations. This could also be used to lower its tax bill, they said.

''It's very likely that Facebook is using its Irish companies to book revenue from Australia and Asia,'' Antony Ting, senior law lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School said.

3:15pm:The US Federal Reserve will meet next Wednesday, or Thursday morning Australian time. While the central bank is expected to keep rolling on with tapering, any comments surrounding growth forecasts, inflation and the prospect of raising interest rates will be keenly sought out from the market.

However, Federal Reserve officials, concerned that selling bonds from their $US4.3 trillion portfolio could crush the US recovery, are preparing to keep their balance sheet close to record levels for years.

Central bankers are stepping back from a three-year-old strategy for an exit from the unprecedented easing they deployed to battle the worst recession since the Great Depression. Minutes of their last meeting in April made no mention of asset sales.

Officials worry that such sales would spark an abrupt increase in long-term interest rates, making it more expensive for consumers to buy goods on credit and companies to invest, according to James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

That “is a widespread view in parts of the Fed, I think, and in financial markets,” Bullard said in an interview last week. While he disagrees with that perspective, it “won the day.”

But Mr Stott said as investors ditch assets traditionally considered ‘‘risky’’ such as mining stocks, it presented a buying opportunity.

‘‘We believe we can continue to find growth companies no matter what the macroeconomic environment presents... and in times like this the opportunities become more apparent,’’ he said.

Those opportunities are scattered across the market, Mr Stott said.

‘‘I don’t think you can say there is a specific sector that you can say in an event like this can be hurt more than another, but you do see a heavy flight towards gold companies and also oil companies when the oil price goes up, so things like Woodside will be up.’’

The energy sector was the top performer on the ASX, up more than 1 per cent. Woodside has led the rally, rising 2.2 per cent to $42.91, while rival Santos firmed 0.7 per cent to $14.615.

The gold miners were also up, with Australia’s biggest gold producer Newcrest rallying 2 per cent to $9.90, while mid-cap gold producers rose between 5 and 10 per cent.

This compared with producers of iron ore, Australia’s most lucrative export, weighing heavily on the market after the metal’s price plummeted to a 21-month low.

1:27pm:Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has attacked the central bank for pushing official interest rates too low in a failed attempt to engage in the European, Japanese and US currency wars.

As the jobless rate held for a third month at 5.8 per cent, Professor ­McKibbin said “very loose” monetary policy was more likely to fuel housing and stock bubbles than real and ­sustainable economic growth.

The May employment data prompted Treasurer Joe Hockey to declare unemployment had “plateaued”, a declaration that may lift some of the pressure to keep rates low.

Professor McKibbin believes interest rates have been kept too low for too long in a misguided effort to lower the dollar and drive housing construction.

He took a swipe at two leading economists – Melbourne University’s Ross Garnaut and former Reserve Bank board member Bob Gregory – who were influential advocates for lower rates last year.

He accused them of misreading the mining boom by applying lessons from 1950s and 1970s commodity price busts and seeking to swap the resources boom with a consumption binge.

“Both Gregory and Garnaut were looking at previous big commodity price collapses . . . which sent the economy into deep recessions,” he said.

The commodity price surge of the past decade had been spent on new mines and ports, which were generating steady revenue, he said.

“That’s why our reaction shouldn’t have been to try to replace the investment boom with a housing boom – we should have done structural change.”

12:58pm:Two years after Australia started pricing carbon, the economy is growing above trend, unemployment has fallen and inflation is comfortably in the Reserve Bank's comfort zone.

And now the government is promising to scrap carbon pricing next month with the assistance of Clive Palmer – and economic growth will fall and unemployment will rise.

That wasn't the story the Coalition has been telling Australia for four years.

You might remember that the sky was supposed to fall on July 1, 2012.

Many Coalition voters apparently believed that, as the gap between their consumer confidence and that of Labor voters blew out to an unprecedented margin, as measured by the Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey.

The second half of that story was that the economy would to take off on a surge of household and business relief when the carbon "tax" was scrapped.

OK, the election pitch wasn't quite that simplistic – there was also the scrapping of the mineral resources rent tax and stopping the boats.

The reality is that the national accounts showed real GDP growth of a very nice 3.5 per cent in the year to the end of March.

The unemployment rate stayed at 5.8 per cent last month and 105,000 more jobs have been added over the past year.

The warning came as Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the BoE’s Financial Policy Committee will get new powers to curb mortgage lending as a surging housing market raises concern about a potential bubble. Using those measures to head off a potential crisis could allow Carney to keep interest rates at a record-low for longer.

Britain’s strengthening economic recovery is raising the prospect of rate increases as early as this year, months before Prime Minister David Cameron seeks a second term in office in a general election.

Carney said while borrowers need to brace for policy tightening, what’s more important is the subsequent pace of rate increases. These will be “gradual and limited” because of headwinds including the strength of the pound and the weak euro-area economy, he said.

“Caution over the path of rate increases once they begin is also needed because we start at a point from which interest rates cannot easily be reduced,” he said. “The effects of an excessive or an excessively rapid tightening of monetary policy could prove damaging and difficult to undo.”

One reason for this is the UK’s “vulnerable position,” according to Carney. Household debt is about 140 percent of disposable income, mortgages at high loan-to-income ratios are at a record and there are signs of a drop in banks’ underwriting standards.

12:19pm: Investors are worried as strategists downgrade their outlook for global markets amid growing fears that violent political unrest in Iraq will draw the United States and its allies including Australia into another Gulf war.

Local shares have followed equity markets in the United States and Europe lower after Prime Minister Tony Abbott described Australia as "an utterly dependable ally to the US", sparking fears of impending military involvement in Iraq.

Market strategists are alert to risks to global oil supply and macro-economic stability following US President Barack Obama's warning that he was not ruling out any possible actions to halt the march of Islamist insurgents as Iraq slides towards a full scale civil war.

Market strategists at Nomura told clients the events in Iraq pose a serious enough threat to global stability and oil supply that the Japanese investment bank has downgraded its outlook for markets.

"A ratcheting up in violence across northern and central Iraq raised fears that oil production out of that key Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members could be compromised," Patersons Securities chief strategist Tony Farnham said.

The spot price for gold, traditionally used by traders as risk hedge, jumped 1 per cent on Thursday night before steadying on Friday morning around a three-week high at $US1272.85 per ounce.

11:55am: One of the world’s most famous value investors has taken a significant stake in a little-known oil and gas company, Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd.

Baupost Group, the Boston-based hedge-fund firm run by Seth Klarman, bought a 6.69 per cent stake in LNG Ltd as the Australian company considers further projects to follow its proposed $3.5 billion US venture.

Baupost owns 25.9 million shares of Liquefied Natural after a series of purchases over the past three weeks, a filing to the ASX shows. The Perth-based company, developing the Magnolia LNG project in Louisiana, expects US investors to hold as much as half of its shares within the next six weeks, said Managing Director Maurice Brand.

“We’ve made solid progress,” Brand said by phone yesterday from Houston. “There’s a recognition that Magnolia LNG has a high probability of success.”

LNG's stock spiked 30 per cent yesterday before easing back to $1.70 today. The share price has doubled in the past month.

Liquefied Natural has shifted its focus from Australia and joined a list of companies in the US planning gas export projects driven by the shale boom. The company, whose LNG development may begin production in 2018 and become one of the first five in the US to start, is now studying further LNG opportunities, Brand said.

11:23am: Country Road's third largest shareholder says minority investors are "laughing all the way to the bank" as a 17-year standoff between South African retailer Woolworths and Australian retail magnate Solomon Lew reaches boiling point.

Veteran stockbroker Nestor Hinzack bought into Country Road in 1997, when Woolworths' $2 a share takeover offer for the clothing and accessories chain was blocked by Solomon Lew's Australian Retail Investments.

Mr Lew's private company built a 12 per cent-plus blocking stake, preventing Woolworths from taking full control.

Now Mr Lew has turned up the heat on Woolworths by buying shares in David Jones, threatening the South African retailer's $2.2 billion takeover offer for the department store chain.

Market sources believe Mr Lew wants Woolworths to buy him out of Country Road at a significant premium and is threatening to block the David Jones takeover to get his way.

"As small shareholders we're laughing all the way to the bank - it's terrific," said Mr Hinzack, who owns about 40,000 shares.

"The more tension that goes into it the better."

After trading between $2 and $4 for more than ten years, Country Road's thinly traded stock inexplicably jumped from $3.54 to $9.50 on February 6 this year.

On March 26 – two weeks before Woolworths unveiled its $4 a share offer for David Jones – Country Road shares jumped again, from $10 to almost $15 a share.

Mr Lew is said to be asking as much as $16 a share for his 11.8 per cent stake, although one source close to the ragtrader said that valuation seemed "extremely exaggerated."

"You have to value the company on its profitability," the source said.

Mr Hinzack said Mr Lew was said to have asked for $5 a share several years ago.

Power play: Market sources believe Solomon Lew wants Woolworths to buy him out of Country Road at a significant premium and is threatening to block the David Jones takeover to get his way. Photo: Glenn Hunt

10:53am: The Kiwis are showing the way in how to handle a boom, writes BusinessDay columnist Malcolm Maiden:

Our Reserve Bank has rates on hold, but its counterpart in New Zealand is pushing the pedal to the metal.

The brake pedal, that is. After keeping its cash rate on hold at 2.5 per cent for three years, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has raised it three times in just over three months, including Thursday's move from 3 per cent to 3.25 per cent.

In Australia the Reserve Bank is keeping rates low to encourage a handover from the resources investment boom to the rest of the economy that is definitely maybe happening. New Zealand, meanwhile, is in the middle of a boom that resembles the one that Australia has left behind, and in some ways surpasses it: perhaps it's the new

New Zealand's economy probably grew by 4 per cent in the year to June, and there are big forces behind it.

One is the reconstruction effort after the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011. Another is a surge in immigration that has created a housing shortage and a supply-side construction surge, in Auckland in particular.

New Zealand has also experienced a commodities boom of its own. Its big commodity is milk products, its big market isAsia and China in particular, and surging dairy prices have supercharged its export income.

The terms of trade that measure the relative strength of import prices and export prices are the key measure of a trading boom, and the mineral commodities boom pushed Australia's terms of trade up by 56 per cent between 2004-05 and 2011-12.

New Zealand's terms of trade have risen by 17 per cent in a year, and by 52 per cent since the turn of the century.

Sunni Islamist militants, who took over Iraq's second-biggest city Mosul earlier this week, extended their advance south toward Baghdad and surrounded the country's largest refinery in the northern town of Baiji on Thursday.

"The fear is that will cause a threat to Iraqi oil exports," Christopher Bellew, a trader at Jefferies Bache, said. "If this conflict knocked out Iraq as an exporter, that would have significant impact on prices."

Brent futures gained $US3.07 to settle at $US113.02 a barrel, the highest level since Sept. 9. US oil gained $US2.13 to settle at $US106.53 a barrel, also the highest close since Sept. 18, according to Reuters data.

After an initially muted response, the oil markets gave way to growing alarm, as the Sunni rebels appeared to make rapid advances toward the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, threatening the country's future as a unified state.

Concern that the Baghdad-controlled Iraqi army was disintegrating and could no longer secure key oil facilities was exacerbated when soldiers fled the northern oil city of Kirkuk, leaving it in the hands of Kurdish forces.

Sunni insurgents overran Tikrit, threatening the 300,000-barrel per day Baiji refinery that supplies Baghdad. A witness who lives nearby said the refinery was surrounded by militants, but White House spokesman Jay Carney said it remained in control of the Iraqi government.

Despite concerns over supply disruptions, the bulk of Iraq's oil production and export facilities are in largely Shi'ite areas in the south of the country, where al Qaeda-inspired groups enjoy little sympathy. Those facilities, which ship about 2.6 million bpd, were "very, very safe", the country's Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi said on Wednesday.

"The big fear is if they get south of Baghdad," said Gareth Lewis-Davies, a strategist at BNP Paribas. "But there is no immediate indication that this will happen.

9:31am:One of China’s busiest ports is investigating whether aluminium and copper stocks have been used multiple times as collateral against loans, reigniting concerns about financing activity in the world’s biggest commodity consumer.

The case, which could have implications for western banks and trading houses, comes amid a crackdown on shadow financing and corruption in China.

A private Chinese metals company is alleged to have pledged the aluminium and copper stocks stored at warehouses in Qingdao as collateral for loans more than once.

“An investigation is under way, we are looking into it,” said an employee at the Communist Party Committee of Qingdao Port, who refused to give her name or further details. Port operations are normal, she added.

Traders said this could have implications for the banks that lent to the company as well as the warehousing firms charged with storing the metal. It comes as Qingdao Port, China’s largest iron ore port and an important transit point for grains and aluminium, prepares to launch a $US377 million stock market listing in Hong Kong today.

Standard Bank Group said it had launched an investigation into potential “irregularities” at the port and was working with local authorities. However, a spokesman said it was not yet in a position to quantify any “potential loss arising from these circumstances”.

London-based Standard Chartered is “monitoring the situation”, a spokesman in Beijing said.

On Thursday, copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was trading at $6,780, down 2 per cent this week.

9:28am: US stocks retreated, with the S&P 500 Index falling the most in three weeks, as industrial and consumer-discretionary shares plunged after escalating violence in Iraq sent oil to an eight-month high while economic data missed estimates.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average retreated the most in two months as oil prices rose to an eight-month high. Oil and gas companies rallied.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 1,930.11, giving the index its longest losing streak in two months. The Dow Jones slid 109.7 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,734.19. The Nasdaq Index lost 0.8 percent, the most in a month.

“This is a major geopolitical event for the oil market,” said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy. “Iraq had been a bright spot ramping up production and now we’re in the midst of a very ugly conflict.”

A surge in violence across northern and central Iraq, three years after US troops withdrew, has raised the prospect of a return to sectarian civil war in OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer. Iraqi forces sought to check the rapid advance of Islamist militants who had seized major cities, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded to the greatest threat to his government since taking power.

President Barack Obama said he won’t rule out using airstrikes to assist Iraq’s government.

9:22am:Volatility in iron ore has continued with the price slipping sharply overnight, as concerns surrounding oversupply and a slowdown in steel consumption simmer.

The benchmark iron ore price, measured out of the Tiajin port in China, slumped 2.1 per cent overnight, to $US91.50 per tonne, a 21-month low.

Iron ore is down 3.2 per cent this week, and 31.8 per cent this year.

On Thursday, Dalian iron ore futures were also hit hard, falling 1.9 per cent to 670 yuan a tonne.

Steel consumption in China has been weak as construction in China's property sector, the largest consumer of steel in China, eases coming into summer.

Chinese rebar steel futures are at their weakest level since the contract began trading in 2009.

Despite this, the world's big miners are chasing record volumes, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto tipping 217 million tonnes and 295 million tonnes respectively this year. Fortescue Metals is also looking to add 217 million tonnes.

In Australia, the value of iron ore exports has risen 24 per cent over the past year, even though the iron ore spot price has lost more than 30 per cent.

Big miners can weather a lower iron ore price because of their low cost base and having a higher grade product. However, the higher cost, lower quality producers, including Fortescue and Atlas Iron will be feeling the pinch.

9:15am: Shareholders of oil and gas producer Nexus Energy have rejected a last-minute call from the company to switch their votes to ­support a 2¢-a-share takeover offer from Seven Group Holdings, sending the oil and gas junior into voluntary administration.

The company announced the failure of the shareholder vote and the appointment of McGrathNicol as voluntary administrators on Thursday evening. Directors will work with Seven Group to continue funding for its operations.

While administrators control Nexus Energy, its nine subsidiaries have not been placed in administration.

Nexus is expected to seek an immediate meeting with Seven as its senior lender, but the media group has already advised it would pursue its rights and look to recover its money.

“The boards and directors of the Nexus subsidiaries will be working the the voluntary administrators and Seven Group to put in place funding arrangements to enable the Longtom, Crux and Echuca Shoals projects to continue with minimal interruption,” Nexus announced to the ASX.

Thursday - Another incident in the South China Sea, a Vietnamese fishing boat is sunk by Chinese Navy. Japan offers air power assistance in Vietnamese waters. Vietnam gives Russian-built submarine commanders order to sink any Chinese military ship in its waters.

Australia shocks the world by beating the Netherlands in the World Cup.

Friday - Iraqi government declares emergency and orders all US troops out of the country while Iranian Revolutionary Guard crosses border to help fight the ISIL. Iraq makes big orders for Russian weaponry and switches all oil sales out of southern Iraq to Yuan and Roubles. Dollar sinks with panic on US and European markets.

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:14PM

Housing Boom!

Commenter

Ridgy

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:39PM

I bet after all that, the ASX falls 200 points on Mon/Tues and then recovers slowly all week to close flat.

Commenter

DR

Location

syd

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:41PM

AWE, big run up early and the dropped like a stone, will interesting to read today's short selling report when it becomes available.

Commenter

cyril

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:49PM

Where have all the $100 bills gone?Probably stashed by the blackmarket in drugs etc, as they gotta stow sh*tloads and the big denomination always takes up the least amunt of room.

For every drug runner with his secret stash there are probably 1,000 age pensioners with their stash of undeclared assets & income.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:31PM

Its time we print a legal tender 1,000,000 bill

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:43PM

So?The whole reason people hold cash is for safety. Anyone holding large sums of "cash" in the form of deposit money has zero intelligence. Deposit money means you are at the mercy of a counter-party, i.e. a bank. Last I saw their balance sheets are heavily geared...

I'm sure, as the article states, both the government and the banks would love to do away with "cash" because then, as a citizen, you have no-way out of the banks, and as the transaction is digital, the government can monitor exactly what you are doing and when. Anyone endorsing this kind of system is clearly blind to the totalitarian dangers and needs to re-read books like "We", "The Road To Serfdom" and obviously "1984".

Commenter

Bye Bye Fiat Money

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:47PM

yep, agree with all that really,and then they [govt] try and flush it out with a note design change and track the larger transactions....hhmm

Commenter

BearShapedBull

Location

MugPunters Lounge

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 4:35PM

Is there any way we can keep our Prime dunces away from the United States of Warmongers. Howard goes there and we're in a ten year war and lots of Australian lives are destroyed. Now our surfer boy can't wait to throw in his twenty cents worth in. Why can't they wait for a couple of years like the septics did before running the flag up the pole?Better still ,get the hard hat out of the boot and join up and be the first over there.We've got plenty of fools who would jump at the chance to be Prime clown .

Nice work @BSB, good luck with BDR, I sold my PIR at open today $1.84, couldn't believe the huge jump from $1.70 close last night!

Commenter

cyril

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:55PM

Curious what people's thoughts on Saracen (SAR) are in the Gold space? One that I rarely see mentioned.

Only a small parcel but I managed to pick it up back at 13c (Along with the SPP at 30c) so I am happy with where they sit currently, but always wonder when I should be taking advantage of the swings.

Commenter

Shannon

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:28PM

Oil stocks going for a run today and goldies picking up the slack, a little insecurity goes along way. WPL new 52high.avg down on some more MND @ 15.40 trying to keep the faith....

Commenter

BearshapedBull

Location

MugPunters Lounge

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:33PM

Why do people find security in QBE? It's a dead set dog. Although I'd take it off someone right now for $8.50

Commenter

Ridgy

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:25PM

On the appointment of the new Head Honcho at the "Future Fund":-

.. to manage the "retirement savings" of Public Servants.

It is not their "savings:" at all - it is OUR contribution from the taxes we have paid.

Put them all on an accumulation scheme (Not a Defined Benefit Scheme) so they understand what real life is all about.

And give us OUR money back.

Why should we be doing this amount of "heavy lifting" for their lifestyles by guaranteeing their Allocated Pension?

Commenter

This really gives me the s....

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:21PM

Yes, yes, the evil public servants.

The Future Fund exists to meet the Commonwealth Government's obligations to its employees - past and present - to whom it offered a defined benefits retirement scheme.

Other than the one for military personnel, which will be closed in 2016 to new entrants, they have all been closed to new entrants for years - one (the main one) since 1990.

However, since those benefits were part of the employment contract, they are entitlements, the same as any other employee's entitlements.

Further, the whole point of the Future Fund is that you don't do "heavy lifting". The heavy lifting is done by the money invested in the Fund by the Howard Government from surpluses gained largely through the mining boom.

Honestly. 1. Obtain facts. 2. Form opinion. Its not a difficult process.

Commenter

Sigh

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:51PM

Anyone here know where I can go to look objectively at the pro's and con's of the carbon tax. I want to have an informed look at whether or not it does have an effect on reducing emissions, or whether it is just another tax. Cheers

Australia produces less than 1.5% of the world's total annual carbon emissions (for comparison, China about 27% and USA about 18%). Let's say we cut as much as 5% of that over the next 6 years (as agreed under the Cancun Agreements) of our 1.5% - that's 0.075% less global carbon per annum at the 6 year mark. That amount will be well and truly picked up by other less-caring countries in the same time. So whether or not the tax works is immaterial. The point is whether it would make any difference even if it does work, and the answer is a resounding "no".

Now I'm sure we'll hear all about setting an example and every bit counts etc etc. That's all very well, but the truth of the matter is that the amount of change we can potentially make is simply not worth the cost to the individuals and corporations within our boundaries, so all the bad stuff that is supposedly going to happen to our planet is still going to happen.

The only way to make a real change is to force the real polluters to cut back, but those that purport to care about climate change seem way too focused on political point scoring against a man that really can't have any impact, and that makes it a little hard to believe their agenda really is the climate rather than political.

Commenter

Gareth

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:53PM

Gareth,

whether Australia's carbon tax impact is negligible or not I think we still have to make the effort to wean ourselves off carbon based energy in the long term.

Even if our efforts are small, at least we could say that we reconise there is a problem and are prepared to do something about it.

If eveyone says its someone elses problem the nothing will ever be achieved.

How long has humanity been burning coal, 200 years or more, we should be smarter than this by now.

Commenter

fortune cookie

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:41PM

Yes, let's force the real polluters to cut back by not continuing to dig up our farmland so that we can send them coal instead of food.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 4:18PM

Sometimes the small things we do can create examples that the rest of the world would want to follow, eg our gun laws, our plain-packaging laws. Better to be a respected trendsetter than a Nigel no-friends.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 4:22PM

just snagged another bargain! BOOM time.

Commenter

Bargain

Location

Hunter

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:05PM

There have been 100,000 full time jobs created this year, the best start in 7 years.

source - Fin Rev 13/06/2014

Commenter

clive

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:01PM

Yeah that's why unemployment is trending up and aggregate hours worked is lower than in 2011.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:14PM

Really?

I had a look on the FR site and could not find this infodo you have a link?

Commenter

fortune cookie

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:29PM

Working 4 hrs a week is a full time job. We will have more relaxed parameters next time like"walking to centrelink to deliver claim form is a full time job" and then we will have full employment.

Commenter

John

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:45PM

The markets going down everybody SELL! run for the exits leave your cash behind LMAO!

Commenter

Yalanga

Location

Buju

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:55PM

hahaha, exactly, trap for young players!

Commenter

clive

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:39PM

Do you not remember what happened just 5 years ago? It can happen again. People will hit the exits at any sign of panic and justifiably so.

Commenter

Ridgy

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:02PM

Does this mean by years end we will be above 5500pts?

Commenter

Yalanga

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:48PM

actually by the end of the day champ.

Commenter

look its going updown

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:26PM

What's the chances of the market going back up through 5400pts by the end of the year?

Commenter

Names

Location

Please

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:46PM

Better than none but probably less than 100%.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:11PM

Nothing like the threat of war to defray the reality of overheated world markets ex OZ

Commenter

Dunno

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:42PM

The major world stock indices are in coo-coo land (along with many other financial assets). War or not, they were eventually going to correct/crash. As often happens (despite all the terrible macro data for a long time now) the media seize on something to justify a sell off. It's just a question of whether you accept this or not.... Maybe it did change the mentality of the herd, who knows, but when things are as stretched as they are worldwide, it could have been anything! The markets however, as yet, has really not sold off much, so don't panic (yet).

Further, ask yourself, did the markets sell-off at the "threat" of Ukraine civil-war? Or the Syrian civil war? Did bonds rally because of this new piece of news? Did gold rally because of this? Go check the evidence (price action).

Commenter

Bye Bye Fiat Money

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:51PM

"very loose” monetary policy was more likely to fuel housing and stock bubbles than real and ­sustainable economic growth"

But ... but ... if what you're saying is true, then ... then ... we've been screwed over mightily by the Federal Reserve ever since the 70s when the fiat currency was adopted! But it can't be! The bankers and the media wouldn't do that to us would they? Would they? Yellen doesn't have any vested interest does she? I mean ... she's good, isn't she? Right ...?

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:33PM

"Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin has attacked the central bank for pushing official interest rates too low in a failed attempt to engage in the European, Japanese and US currency wars."

And 95% of the cheap money has been pumped into the housing bubble.

Fail.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:32PM

@Allan ....Warwick probably has a clue or two about what is heading down our way here in Australia ....but the distinguished Glenn Stevens is happy to keep the bubble alive for the time being.

Commenter

Ash

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 3:18PM

Maxed out your credit?

Never mind: "Alarm over sex shop king's payday loans".

Housing boom!

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:23PM

better 20% of $1500 than banks demanding mortgage insurance of up to 4% on a million.$40K up front just to start the borrowing process. and they call pay day lenders thieves! try looking at the banks and credit unions.

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:50PM

"The Department of Treasury and Finance last year paid $200,000 to a consultant that was contracted for just two days' work, and that ultimately produced a report drawn from publicly available information, Auditor-General John Doyle has found."

The Age of Entitlement is alive and well under the LNP.

Here, have $50K gratis.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:02PM

Unfortunately that sort of stuff goes on everywhere. I work in public service and it amazes me how many times I have seen this sort of thing happen. Payments made to 'consultants' are out of hand. At one stage I seriously thought about quitting my job, starting my own consulting business, and essentially doing what I do anyway. And making between $200-500k.

An interesting article which goes on to say that it is not exactly a zero deposit. It is a delayed deposit, which is a step towards zero. It goes on to say there is a 20% drop in housing construction this year. The picture of China i that of a place which has been going hell for leather and is finally waking up in a lather of sweat. They are now trying to calm their economy down. I see this as a good thing. There will be a lot of collateral damage along the way, such as aussie iron ore exports.

Commenter

Wally

Location

Flynn

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:15PM

Excerpt:

“The oversupply problem is very severe,” Gan Li, director of the Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance, said in Beijing on June 10, citing a survey of 28,000 households in 29 provinces that indicated 22 percent of urban homes were vacant in 2013.

In Beijing, at a Beijing Pearl River Real Estate Development Co. project called Season Joy City, on the southern outskirts of the city, property company SouFun Holdings Ltd. is offering loans to cover up to 50 percent of the purchase price of apartments. On a hot summer morning, a couple with a toddler were the only prospective buyers, looking at models of apartment blocks in a showroom. Promotional signs said property prices “will never fall.”

LOL! they must be as gullible as some of us are

Commenter

fortune cookie

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:03PM

Ed, can you please do an overlay chart of the Surfers Paradise unit market and the ASX 200 between 2006 and 2014. What can we all clearly see from these charts?

ED: Beyond our meagre powers, I'm afraid.

Commenter

Randall Da Renegade

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:21PM

The median value on the Glitter Strip (Surfers Paradise) has risen to $347,535, which is just 8 per cent below the peak in 2007 when it was $378,000.

a quick check and they can match melbourne with about 2500 apartments for sale.and 6500 available for rent.oh yeah demand is soaring. get in now before its too late!!!

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:00PM

$347k median price. No bubble here. In fact if true these prices are pathetic. As an ex Brisbanite I always found the Gold Coast a phoney joke.

Commenter

Wally

Location

Flynn

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:33PM

whats your point @jack? i'm looking to buy in sydney at the moment, there are loads of houses on the market but they are all to expensive, and would also love to rent closer to city or beaches, again loads of places to rent that are all too expensive. are you saying i should be able to afford a house because there are thousands on the market?

Commenter

wants to buy

Location

in Coogee... anyone?

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:38PM

ASX probably needs a correction. On the 21st October 2013 it was 5373 and today 5375 so up 2 points in 8 months. Not 200 points or 20 points. Two (2) too, to, If we have a correction it should be an upward correction.

Commenter

Cracker

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:54AM

And what economic factors would provide the lift. No matter how hard I look and no matter how much I would like to see an uplift there is no evidence of anything positive likely to happen.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:10PM

next upward correction will be santa rally, not too far off really. Given wars & the lnp, have changed super allocation to fixed interest, there is no confidence or optimism anywhere. Have a good weekend youse all !

Commenter

conservationist tony

Location

trashed

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:31PM

Anyone know why FMG isn't $11.90 no more?

Commenter

Tin Can Rodney

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:51AM

"One of China’s busiest ports is investigating whether aluminium and copper stocks have been used multiple times as collateral against loans, "

China is heading for a major crisis if they don't implement a social democratic system based on the separation of powers and rule of law, especially contract law.

As it is they are the "wild west" are the 500M poor are sick of it and sick of seeing the princelings splash billions that doesn't belong to them on real estate around the world.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:42AM

China hasn't had a system that separates power and rule of law for all of its 3,700 year history. So good luck with that.

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:08PM

they might be sick of it. but they know how it ends when you take them on.

Commenter

brian

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:08PM

if 500M decide to march on Beijing nothing will stop them.

"Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is posting photos of people adopting the 'legs-as-guns' pose"

Oh they do have the odd revolution and mass killing from time to time, but the leadership that would follow would also be unable to establish a constitution in the way we see it.

Culture doesn't create people, people create culture.

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 1:32PM

doubt it, most young Chinese don't even know the tiananmen square incident exists.

Commenter

got brain

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:54PM

SDL back at 8c and the head of their former suitor to be executed.

Hope you didn't pay more than 8c for it.

Iron ore is not rare you know and they won't be building a 500km railway across half of Africa any time soon.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:37AM

Perma Bull mince on special yet again 99 cents a kilo.

Commenter

ASX Butcher

Location

Coles since 2006

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:35AM

Well the AllOrds is down 2.84% (so far) from it's highest Apr-June point of 5516 on 28/4/14. Just another 5.16% to go to match the consistent 8% fall over that period in the prior 3 years.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:29AM

Try recite this ONE : CCL is a buy in the low 8??

Commenter

jacee

Location

sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:11AM

if you buy at that range you're buying at approx fair value. why not wait to see if it drops to below $6-$7?wait.

Commenter

no banks .. no party!

Location

my 2cents

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:02PM

Responsible Actions by NZ RBA... WoW I thought order of the day for Reserve Banks in West was money printing , debasing of the currencies and asset inflation becasue "there is no other option". If Kiwis continue proving the World and in Particular USA wrong I wonder how long before they join "Axis of Evil " and require regime change :)

@DJ77 ....LOL. New Zealand branded an axis of evil power by Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi ....Seriously, I salute the Governor of RBNZ for his bold stance in raising interest rates thrice over the last 3 months. It seriously takes a man of courage and principles to do demonstrate this type of leadership and hence prevent propping up of all types of bubbles within an economy

Commenter

Ash

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:53AM

Appropriate policies as the situation demands. When the economy is in danger of taking a big hit strong stimulus is required. When the economy recovers and can provide its own growth, withdraw stimulus and damp down runaway growth and the inflation that comes with it. Labor listened to the experts during the GFC. The Libs are listening to the IPA. It will not end well.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:04PM

there is milk in them thar hills. rivers of white creamy gold.NZ your either with us or agin us!

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:56PM

Except the policies don't work...

Ummm Japan, printing for 20 years, interest rates at zero, two lost decades....

Commenter

Bye Bye Fiat Money

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:09PM

Im looking forward to coles and woolies having a bigger stab at financial services. should cause the big 4 a major headache and get them off their bums and start slashing rates to compete.

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:03AM

The ASX right back down below that 5400 2006 level. Meanwhile US shares bought when the AUD was around US$1.03 have been flying. Enjoy!

Commenter

Gordon Akman

Location

Broadbeach

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:55AM

I sold out at the start of the year when talk of accelarating tapper made me think the US markets have peaked... they are now up 10+ % since then. Oh well , still made very good returns combined with Exchange rates. Just the question of what to do with Cash.. I am following NZ/AUD and its tempting with NZRB raising rates and RBA doing its best to prop bubbles here.

Commenter

DJ77

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:17AM

$340 million for light rail in newcastle and another $150 million for a 3.4km dual carriageway for an inner city by pass.NSW gov isnt messing about with Newcastle / Port Stephens spending billions.lets see what the new chinese owners of the port do now? I dont think it will be small.

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:47AM

The new Chinese owners will probably do nothing more than put up the price of cargo handling in order to get their money back ASAP. That's the problem with foreign investment in essential infrastructure such as ports, energy, utilities etc. They are not investing for our benefit but theirs. And Abbott was in Canada last week trying to sell more of Australia off to Canada's rapacious pension funds.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:20AM

@mitch, the real question is why our super funds are not as visible in these spaces...

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:49AM

its all coal at the moment I think with T4 up for grabs. the chinese will probably turn T4 into a container terminal or ?????????the possibilities are endless and the chinese are moving in.The way port stephens council and the nsw gov are at the moment it might turn into a king st wharf type setup with a brand new light rail at your doorstep.try looking at this in stockholm to see what can become of disused industrial docks with a bit of planning and light rail. best in the world.https://www.google.com.au/#q=hammarby+sj%C3%B6stad

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 12:33PM

Islamist militants are going to be the start of the great correction?

No, as usual, it will be a week or so down and bang straight up again.

Look at all the past events over the last 5 years. They mean nothing!

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:45AM

does that make the west christian militants?

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:00AM

it's the correction we had to have. enjoy it.DOW at idiotic levels...

Commenter

no banks .. no party!

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:19AM

Well I am in about half cash and not much to enjoy yet.

I'll sit out for the next 2 weeks of the financial year & start fresh in July.

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:30AM

Currently there is fairly sufficient oil supplies outside the Middle East. The U.S will be the world’s top oil producer by 2020 and hopefully Australia will follow.

Ukraine’s conflict with Russia was bigger than the less economically important Iraq, and market shrugged it off. This is a good time to hunt for bargains, lol.

Commenter

Stayput

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:44AM

"I'm a conservationist" says Phoney Tony.

That squares up with why you want to dig up every last bit of coal, or frack any last bit of gas, for any price no matter what permanent damage it does to unreplaceable farmland, ground water, reefs or the environment generally.

Commenter

The Miners' PM

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:45AM

He really means conserving the wealth of his donor base.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:33AM

Yep,sold Medusa yesterday after 3 weeks to break even.... up 7% this morning!

Commenter

Ox

Location

Kensi Pk

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:43AM

Friday 13th today... we are due for some weirdness :)

Commenter

DJ77

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:21AM

Down down, prices are down!

Commenter

Coles

Location

ASX200

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:38AM

you drive me nuts with this BS coles!cant get that silly song outta my head thanks to you!

Commenter

no banks .. no party!

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:15AM

Quick, the price of ore is falling. Let's hit the miners up with a super tax, quick!

Commenter

Shaking Eagle

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:28AM

Exactly why government shouldn't tax a sector of the country with a tax when it does well. Bad policy. What happens when commodity prices tumble? Same with banking. There was talk about a tax on bank profits not all that long ago. Yes they are doing well now. What happens if the economy dives and banks profits ball. Do you keep taxing it then? Governments should stay out of intervening in markets when they are profitable.

Commenter

SI

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:45AM

They're shipping more and they're well into the production phase where costs are low and more of the $50B profit they're making from assets that rightly belong to the First People should be going towards their health care and education.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:53AM

Nothing will happen to your cash if it stays parked there but your post sounds like you intend to buy beaten down shares off the fleeing masses. Those shares could still fall further after you have spent your hoarded cash. The market has soared too high based on local conditions and is just as likely to overcorrect.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:56AM

@SI, What happens when prices tumble? Well then the tax doesn't apply. If you don't earn the huge profits then you don't pay the tax.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:03AM

BTW - comparing mining to banking is flawed

MIning is taking the resources out of the ground that all Australians own, why should a big corporate make mega profits from OUR resources and then whinge when a justifiable tax is applied?

Commenter

fortune cookie

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:34AM

Shaking,You do realise that the MRRT only applies to 'super profits', i.e anything over 6% net profit.

If they aren't that profitable they don't pay the tax, but meanwhile if they're not profitable they keep paying the states royalties whether they like it or not.

Commenter

Econorat

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 2:59PM

ASX straight through 5400 1st go and now sometime in the future will bounce back off it around 25 times before breaking through again.

Commenter

Simon

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:27AM

Straw hats in winter. What do people feel about the small iron ore miners eg. MGX or AGO? If the iron ore price is close to bottoming there should be upside?

Commenter

YIn or yang

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:27AM

It's nowhere near winter yet...There may only be one company able to sustain such low iron ore prices...i.e....MGX, AGO may not be cheap at any price.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:47AM

Break even prices at $80 & $79. I expected their share prices to be lower than they are now. I want last year's levels :)

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:32AM

Whoops just realised I quoted BCI break even price. AGO is $89... I/O currently at $91-92

Commenter

GS

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:34AM

@GS..Ouch....IO likely going much lower yeah? If it goes lower they'll be in caretaker mode forever. .e....costing money; not making. I wouldn't touch them at any price...Too risky for me.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:52AM

I agree, too risky for me as well. MGX also didn't pay a div this time round, despite being cash up.

his makes me think they'll do something silly soon like try to take over another company.

Good day to discuss something I am really clueless about -Why do people generalise that over long term the 'market' has returned X% returns on average. It could be shares or real estate or anything else for that matter but arent returns very specific as each of us has a different portfolio & it all depends of how that bunch did over those years !! Also now sure how does this work but the Index keeps on changing its constituents which basically drops the underperforming assets & adds performing assets thereby showing an upward trending line over the long term but is this correct ?? Please enlighten !! Thanks.

Commenter

Clueless

Location

Wonderland

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:23AM

yep you are correct, there are always good and bad shares it depends when you buy and sell only. People here like to look at one simple line of the index and rabbit on about 2005 levels becuase they dont know the individual companies well enough to add real thought or conviction. the index is always the top x companies by market capitalisation, so yes weak ones drop out and strong come in

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:33AM

I think you answered the first part of your question already by saying "on average". Obviously an individual's experience varies wildly from the average, but there is no other way to give an indication of the general expectation other than to group everyone. The second part of the question is very valid though - yes the constituents are changed at times and obviously it's the poor performers that are removed so that would skew the result upwards. However, the banks are a fair portion of any local index and they have generally performed well so the effect of removal of weaker performers wouldn't be too big.

An interesting graph would be to take the ASX 200 (or all ords) constituent group as it was at say 1 July from each of the last 10 years and extrapolate it out to where it would be sitting today.

Commenter

Gareth

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:43AM

Because share trading for most people is really just another form of gambling. The only difference is that the game is 'rigged' to slowly payout positively over time. The payout is the slope of those index graphs.

Perhaps selling BHP a few weeks ago wasn't such a bad idea after all. But now I'm getting the itch to buy back in.

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:23AM

Stocked up on some palladium, I hope you're right JohnBB!

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:16AM

I have a set of postage stamps made from Palladium foil that my grandfather gave me after a trip to Tonga for the coronation. Not worth much, alas

Commenter

YIn or yang

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:25AM

So do I Fred.....Have you read there's some progress in miner negotiations?...Still great fundamentals...What about oil? Surging now.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:26AM

So let's see Ahmed Fahour the CEO of Australia Post is paid $4.8m/year for running a government organisation which clearly is struggling on his watch. In addition, all of his nine reports are paid in excess of $1m/year.

Meanwhile in the real world the CEO of US post an organisation ten times the size of Fahour's is paid $480k/year.

The age of entitlement is over indeed Mr Hockey?

Commenter

Viking

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:09AM

Australia Post net profit before tax is up each year for the last 3 years, so is after tax profit, return on equity, and dividends paid......oh the bad man must stop....

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:30AM

i thought the disparity between stevens and bernanke was bad enough. but this one tops it. $4.8m to run the post. that's over half-way to some of the salaries of the big 4 bank CEOs.

Commenter

brian

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:41AM

@brian, yep Ahmed is ex NAB but him and Cameron didnt get along

Commenter

Wwwish Lion

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:52AM

Ahmed Fahour's annual compensation explains everything that is wrong with Australia.... 900 lame ducks to be sacrificed to keep Ahmed Fahour in a multi million dollar job. Will we see individuals like him coming forward to take a pay cut ? .....Never, the working class peasants like myself will have to bear the brunt of the pay cuts and redundancies

Commenter

Ash

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:23AM

"this year. Fortescue Metals is also looking to add 217 million tonnes."

Dont think so mungo.

Commenter

mushy

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:07AM

........"Oil prices jumped to nine-month highs overnight"....

Loving it.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:07AM

ASX will be down 52 points at 10.16am.

Commenter

Goldfinger

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:54AM

Bit Late but of course the mighty ASX gets there in the end. Down of course not up. Never up.

Commenter

Goldfinger

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:27AM

Here we go again. Last week Dow up 100 points then next day up 100 points ASX down 35 and then down 27 Yesterday dow down 100 points and today dow down 100 points ASX down 25 yesterday and god knows what today. We'll go straight through 5400 without even blinking. Dow ends up where it started last week and we lose 120 points or around 390 Dow points. Watched the Spi last night and we finally went into the green by 1 point only to lose 12 points in 5 mins even though the FTSE was up and the Dow hadn't even opened. When they did they opened flat. How does our market go down all day then when we close the Spi gets reset and goes down and then the FTSE opens and we go down and then the Dow opens and the SPI follows thar down all night. Then at 9.50am the Spi gets reset again lower. People say we've had a good run going from 4000 up to 5000 but seem to forget we went from 5000 to 3780 the year before. So less than 400 points in over 4 years and today all the good stocks will go down. ASX is a Joke !

Commenter

Macca

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:50AM

...ASX is a Joke"....It's the Australian economy and the ASX reflects that.

Commenter

JohnBB

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:18AM

At 11:28am US time, the DOW was 16804.26.

At 10:04am this morning ASX is 5405.

Why isn't ASX 16804.26?

You see this everyday. What a joke. What a sick joke.

Commenter

what a joke

Location

what a sick overused joke

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:19AM

348 points up in 4 years. 87 points a year. Today we have just lost 7 months 16 days 4 hours and 7 minutes worth of profit in just 1 and a half hours. What a joke the ASX is. The market that finds it so easy to go down and hen's teeth and four leaf clovers to go up.

Commenter

Macca

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 11:35AM

for people out there who think IP is better than bank interest in the last 10 years as explained by Allan.

"One caveat is to avoid optimistic property markets, characterised by low rental yields and inflated prices. Buying at an inflated price will make the strategy go pear-shaped. The rental yield will be low, necessitating a higher break-even rate of appreciation, but the future price trend from an inflated level is often flat or down, at least in the short term. This is the bind that some investors over recent years have fallen into."

Sounds like Sydney/Melb market right now...

Commenter

fortune cookie

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:35AM

Negative gearing only works if property prices continue to rise. It's as simple as that. It has worked for years and years because of Australia's pro-housing market stance. The strategy doesn't work if prices go nowhere. In my opinion prices can't continue to go higher. It is unsustainable. Good decision to scrap the first home buyer scheme as it inflates property prices and ironically makes it harder for first home buyers to get in the market in the first place. Now they need to get rid of negative gearing as a tax write off and property prices will start to return to some sort of normality.

Commenter

SI

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:49AM

wow the yanks invaders were gone for 5 minutes and the rightful citizens of iraq are taking their oil back. who would have thought it?no way this is ending quickly or quietly. oil is heading up.

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:44AM

Except a fair proportion of the Islamists in Iraq and Syria aren't Iraqis and Syrians. They are Saudis, Qataris, Pakistanis, Libyans, Chechens etc

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:25AM

Riiiight. The 'rightful' owners are back and forcing thousands of "non-rightful' civilians to flee their homes. Riiight. Your 'rightful' owners are nothing more than murderous terrorists, to their own people.

Commenter

Shaking Eagle

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:25AM

as opposed to the yanks brits and australians. riiigghhtt.one thing is for sure. the yanks arent getting that oil. how many nations are they trying to invade at the moment.Iraq Iran China Russia Afghanistan that we know of. not looking good for the yanks and australians as europe china and iran all jump into bed with each other and our gas and iron ore and coal drops each day.Wallarah 2 coal mine just refused in the land and environment court.

Commenter

smilingjack

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:43AM

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter: Gerald Seymour 1975. The problem for the rest of us is when essential resources are located in the land being fought over.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:48AM

Oil is heading up alright. Load up on oil heavy stocks and read the rewards. Volatility is always the investors best friend.

Commenter

SI

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:51AM

Obama is considering airstrikes, for that is all he knows. How about if we enlist al-Assad and the Syrian armed forces to fight this terrorists instead. He knows how to get the job done. And Obama, not so much ...

Commenter

Dr No

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:35AM

Backing the Islamists against Assad has been an enormous foreign policy blunder. Kindergarten kids could do a better job at foreign policy.

Commenter

Fred

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:17AM

"the higher cost, lower quality producers, including Fortescue and Atlas Iron will be feeling the pinch.

Lower grade iron ore, 57 per cent to 58 per cent Fe, experienced a discount of $US10 per tonne over 2012 and 2013, but Credit Suisse estimates that was abnormally low. The discount is now $US19 per tonne and is expected to hit $US20 per tonne."

That puts FMG iron ore at @ $72/MT.

Ouch.

Commenter

Allan

Location

Prahran

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:32AM

FMG asset sales back on the block again I think. You heard it here first.

Commenter

SI

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:59AM

About time! Have been questioning my play in cash at the moment. Finally some turmoil in the media and we should get a ridiculous over reaction. Not being greedy but I did well during the Government shutdown in the USA, nothing like taking money off fleeing masses.

Commenter

I'll take

Location

that, and that!

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 9:30AM

Don't rejoice too much. The downturn could last longer than you have cash left to take advantage of it.

Commenter

mitch of ACT

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:15AM

why whats going to happen to my money if its parked in cash?

Commenter

@mitch

Location

Date and time

June 13, 2014, 10:37AM

@Sigh, that's all too hard. Let bias & ignorance rule the day. After all, that's how we ended up with Abbott as PM.